


the Mary Sue rant I keep meaning to post

by welkinalauda (iiii)



Series: Salvaged from Tumblr [15]
Category: A Trekkie's Tale
Genre: Gen, Mary Sue meta, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 00:49:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19801270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iiii/pseuds/welkinalauda
Summary: Whatever it is you’re trying to say with “Mary Sue,” find another way to say it.





	the Mary Sue rant I keep meaning to post

first posted to tumblr [8/21/16](https://welkinalauda.tumblr.com/post/149278741754/the-mary-sue-rant-i-keep-meaning-to-post).

The trope namer is “[A Trekkie’s Tale](http://www.wiccananime.com/amslt/amslttrekkiestale),” by Paula Smith (1972). 

People decided the problem being exposed here is the hypercompetent self-insert girl at the center of the story. 

To my mind, Smith is actually talking about _false advertising_. This story is Mary Sue having her ego petted by a collection of cardboard cutouts in Star Fleet uniforms. It’s an original (bad) story of original (cardboard) characters. But when it’s called “A Trekkie’s Tale” and published in a Trek ‘zine, Mary Sue is scamming herself an audience she wouldn’t otherwise merit. 

[There’s more to be said about who merits an audience, and the deep and meaningful distinction between Mary Sue’s pseudo-Trek fic, and all those white boys’ Tolkein-with-the-serial-numbers-filed-off badfic that actually got published for pay in "real” magazines. But that’s for another day.]

* * *

But people fixed on the hypercompetent self-insert girl at the center of the story as **The Problem**. From there, it’s been an expanding blob of disapprobation. 

  * a hypercompetent self-insert girl at the center of the story ruins the story 
  * a hypercompetent self-insert girl at the center of the story ruins the story, and deserves the scorn of all right-minded people 
  * a hypercompetent self-insert girl at the center of the story ruins the story, deserves the scorn of all right-minded people, and should be excised from the story forthwith
  * a hypercompetent girl in the story at all ruins the story
  * a competent girl in the story at all ruins the story
  * a girl at the center of the story ruins the story
  * a girl who has agency within the narrative ruins the story
  * a girl who is distinguishable from a sexy lamp ruins the story
  * any female character who is distinguishable from a sexy lamp ruins the story 
  * any female character who is distinguishable from a sexy lamp ruins the story, deserves the scorn of all right-minded people, and should be excised from the story forthwith
  * ‘Sexy Lamp’ is the only proper role for women in stories
  * women are scenery, not people.



A female character might escape allegations of Sue-dom if she 

  * is villainous
  * functions as an oracle, existing only to impart information and taking no independent action
  * is rescued by a male character, repents of her attempts at independent action, and thereafter functions solely as her rescuer’s support staff/arm candy 



Mind you, I said _might_. If there’s anything interesting or positive about her, someone, somewhere, will call her a Mary Sue. 

* * *

So at this point, “Mary Sue” works a lot like “fat bitch” - there’s arguably a specific meaning to the phrase, but finely parsed debates about whether or not a given woman fits that meaning are a waste of time. Someone who calls me a fat bitch isn’t attempting a dispassionate assessment of my weight or my temperament. They mean to insult me (and shut me up) by calling me insufficiently decorative and insufficiently compliant - a _bad female_. And I’ve seen enough skinny little cinnamon rolls called _fat bitch_ to know that it’s indiscriminately applied. When a female character is called a Mary Sue, it doesn’t describe anything particular to that character. **It reminds everyone that the proper role of women in stories is scenery.**

Anyone who calls a character a "Mary Sue" these days is guilty of, at best, lazy-as-fuck writing (and thinking), and at worst, bad faith argument in service to the oppressor.

Whatever it is you’re trying to say with “Mary Sue,” find another way to say it.


End file.
